Wrecks on the Ledge

Every year one or two unwary seafarers think they can cut across Bembridge Ledge only to find there isn't as much water as they thought! Its not just the inexperienced sailors that come a cropper, in the last few years from the cafe we have seen expensive motor yachts (they must have spilt their G&Ts) to commercial fishing boats come to a grinding halt! Only to be left high, dry and red faced on the rocks as the tide goes out.

There were two, more famous incidents, one was in 1968 when the submarine HMS Alliance took the wrong line through the navigation buoys and ran aground, where she became quite a tourist attraction until she was refloated a couple of days later and returned to Gosport. HMS Alliance can be seen today in drydock in Gosport as part of the Royal Navy Submarine Museum.

The other infamous wreck was the paddle steamer The Empress Queen, she was launched in 1897 and was 372ft long, with a gross weight of 2140 tonnes, she was the biggest cross-channel paddle steamer in British waters. She could carry 2000 passengers at 21 knots, she was a record breaker at the time. She was being used as a troop carrier in February 1916 when she ran aground in the  fog on Bembridge Ledge. All 110 crew and the ships cat and dog were rescued by the brave attempts of the Bembrige lifeboat “Queen Victoria”, who herself hit the rocks and sustained damage.

Part of  the Empress Queen's superstructure can still be seen today on the ledge at low water.